Mestizo Restaurant: Mole Verde sauce

BATON ROUGE - Jim Urdiales, owner of local restaurant Mestizo, visited the kitchen on News 2 at 4 p.m. to show us how to make a Mexican scallop dish smothered in a green savory sauce.

Mole sauce is a culinary tradition that runs deep in Mexico and Jim's spin takes advantage of lush herbs to produce an end product that is very clean and refreshing to the palate. Urdiales says the mole verde recipe he prepared on the show pairs well with seafood or chicken. On today's show, he went "surf" instead of "turf" and demonstrated how to create a sauce that is excellent when served with freshly caught scallops or shrimp.

While there are many types of this particular sauce, chili peppers are the key element upon which the whole mole hinges. The serrano pepper is used to provide just the right amount of heat and spice to cut through the tomatillo base and compliment the cilantro and parsley. The sauce is beautiful, easy and fresh. You can make it yourself with the following recipe:

Urdiales recommended roasting all items on a cooking sheet with olive oil and or cooking spray in oven on 350 for 20 minutes until fully charred or blackened. Add chicken stock to the blender and then add all roasted items. Simmer on stove in light oil for about 20 minutes.

While roasted almonds contribute greatly to add a rich, nutty tone to the sauce, Urdiales advises everyone to be aware of food allergies when dining out or cooking at home. All mole sauces have a nut component in them so they will never be good for someone with a allergies to nuts.

As always, Jim has something planned at the restaurant in the near future, and this time it's a "Katy Perry" themed Halloween Night at Mestizo. It sounds like a bit of light hearted fun in Baton Rouge as the restaurant will be playing Katy Perry tunes with free corn dogs for the kids from 5 p.m. to close. Kids like both of those things. Of course, the usual fresh and innovative Mestizo cuisine will be made to order from the kitchen for the parents. To take a gander at the Mestizo menu, check out their website at mestizorestaurant.com.